


Secret Empire

by PierceTheVeils



Series: Fun and Games [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Resistance (Cartoon)
Genre: Emperor Darth Vader, Father-Daughter Relationship, Foreshadowing, Galactic Republic, Gen, In-Universe Adaptations, Intrigue, Mentioned Count Dooku, Mentioned Darth Vader, Mentioned Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Party Games, Political Parties, Simplification of History, Some tags only make sense in context, Tasteless Party Games, secret hitler, the senate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PierceTheVeils/pseuds/PierceTheVeils
Summary: Torra Doza proposes a controversial choice for father/daughter game night.  Captain Doza has no idea why anyone would turn the formation of the Galactic Empire into a tabletop party game, but he goes along with it anyway to make his daughter happy. Set during Resistance Season One (shortly after "Synara's Score") but contains foreshadowing for later events in the show.
Series: Fun and Games [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728667
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Secret Empire

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone not familiar with Secret Hitler and for whom the in-fic explanation is insufficient, here is the game's Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Hitler If you ever get a chance to play this game, I strongly recommend it. It was my LIFE in my final days of high school.

Captain Imanuel Doza dragged himself over to the Ace Pilot’s lounge, gait trudging and mind racing. With yesterday’s pirate attack and Commander Pyre’s list of terms still fresh in his mind, Doza was reaching his limit with stress. His only consolation was that the Aces had returned from their supply run this afternoon. Doza was grateful not only for the heightened security, but for the company of his daughter as well.

She beamed when she noticed him, running over to give him a hug. “Father!”

“Torra. It’s good to have you home.” Doza knelt down to embrace her. For that moment and that moment alone, all the stress of the past few days abandoned him. “How was the supply run for you?”

“Oh, just fine! We didn’t have any problems.” Torra pulled out of the hug first to examine her father’s face. “I heard the pirates attacked while we were away. What happened?”

Doza sighed. “Just lucky timing on their part, is all. They began their attack while you were away and the turbolasers were down for maintenance. They fled when we got them working again. I’m… looking into ways to prevent this from happening in the future.”

Torra returned his frown. She put her mind to the issue as well. “I don’t think you needed all the Aces to do our last supply run, Father. I think there should always be a few Aces on the Colossus at all times so that the pirates don’t get lucky again!”

“That would spread our forces thin.” But at least it would still only be pilots Doza trusted. Torra’s answer appealed to his pride, just not to his mind. He shook his head. “Enough of that now. I didn’t come down here to talk about problems.” He did his best to return a smile to his face. “Are we still on schedule for family game night, Torra?”

“You bet we are! I asked the other Aces if they wanted to join us, but everyone wants time with their ships. Only Freya agreed to come to this one. But I also picked a game with a lot of players in it, so I invited a few extra friends as well! Is that okay, Father?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be.” It wouldn’t be the first time Torra had invited others to their weekly game night. Torra owned a wide variety of games, some of which couldn’t be enjoyed with only two players. Usually the other Aces played with them if that were the case, but this time… well, “who else did you invite?”

“You remember my friend Kaz from when we had the energy problems, right Father? He works for Yeager’s Repairs. I told him I wanted a total of eight players for our game and that he needed to bring a total of five. I think Yeager’s entire shop is coming.”

Doza ran the numbers. “I don’t mind Yeager. He and his mechanics were a great help with the turbolasers yesterday. But I think he only has three mechanics on his payroll, not four. What game do we need eight players for, anyway?”

“Secret Empire!”

Doza groaned on instinct. “Why did Hype even buy you that tasteless game?”

“Father! I’ve been wanting to play it since my birthday! I know you don’t like what it’s about, but it’s not like it’s serious. It’s just a game. A game I’ve been wanting to play for months and you keep saying no to.” She pouted. “Please, Father?”

“Why can’t you play it another time?”

“Because you need at least eight players for all the characters to be included! There are only five of us Aces, and I’m never able to get all of them  _ and  _ three others to sit down with me. Griff doesn’t like the game either.”

“I don’t blame him.”

“Please, Father?” Torra begged. “Can we please play just one round? If we play one round and you still don’t like it, we’ll play something else.”

Doza frowned. He’d come to family game night to get away from his problems, not be reminded of them. Secret Empire was a new game on the market designed to parody the twilight days of the Old Republic Senate. Among each group of senators (the players) lurked a few Imperial agents who sought to set the Galactic Empire in motion. The rest of the players, Republicans, did their best to change history and avert the crisis despite a lack of knowledge regarding who the enemy was. Not only was the game tasteless, but it was horrifically simplistic and ignored all the nuance of the time period. Doza may have been young when the Empire began, but even he knew it was more complicated than that.

All that said, yes. Torra had received the game as a gift months ago and begged him to play it with her several times since. Maybe if Doza finally agreed to sit for a round he could get some peace on the subject.

So he gave in. “Fine. I will play one round with you and your friends.” 

“Yay!” Torra threw her fists in the air, her animated sense of joy tugging up the corners of his lips as well. “Freya and Kaz should be here soon along with everybody.”

Torra’s prediction proved correct. Freya, Yeager, Yeager’s mechanics, and an extra girl who smelled like the scrapyard joined them in the lounge just a few minutes later. Torra hadn’t told Kaz what game they would all be playing, and Yeager reacted similarly to Doza when told. “That’s the one where you work to install the Empire, isn’t it? Why would anyone make a game out of that?”

“For money. As a bad joke, maybe. Who knows?” Doza grumbled. 

Torra groaned. “Not everyone works to install the Empire in this game, okay? Most players are Republicans who do their best to  _ uphold _ democracy! It’s only a few sneaky spies who seek to install their own order in the galaxy.”

“A game where you play at flushing out spies?” The scrapper girl repeated, crossing her arms. “That doesn’t sound very fun.”

“I don’t mind.” Tam (Yeager’s most senior employee) shrugged. “No one here’s a spy though, so I doubt anyone will be very good at this game. But it’s worth trying out, right Synara?”

Synara’s eyes flitted around the lounge, avoiding the gaze of others as they did. “If it really is only a game, then I guess I can play. I didn’t have any other plans tonight.”

“Yay! I think it sounds great, Torra. Just a silly game to help us take our mind off things. No basis in reality at all. Haha!” Kaz’s arms flew into the air first, then fell behind his head as he rambled on. 

Kaz… Doza never knew what to make of that boy, to be honest. His gestures always seemed awkward and exaggerated, causing something as mundane as visiting a friend to look as though he were sneaking around the platform. He definitely seemed like the weakest mechanic of the group as well, making Doza wonder why Yeager had chosen to hire him. Doza was probably overthinking it, though. The captain had a lot on his mind, sure, but just because the First Order were a suspicious group didn’t mean he had to think like them. 

He cleared his throat, cutting through the chatter. “Since I don’t think we’re all that familiar with each other, how about everyone introduce themselves first? Once we do that, I know this game is new for all of us, so Torra will explain the rules before we play. Is that agreeable with everyone here?”

Assent. Introductions proceeded smoothly save for Neeku’s, who wasn’t sure how much was appropriate to share in such a situation and ended up offering too much rather than too little. Yeager had to cut him off. 

Once that was over, Torra lifted the lid off the box to Secret Empire and got out the list of rules. It seemed like she intended to read from it aloud until she tossed the flimsi aside. “So I’ve already told you what the game is about. In Secret Empire, we’re all Senators meeting in the Galactic Senate. Based on random drawing, we all have a party affiliation. Three of us are Imperials, the other five are Republicans. Imperials are given a chance to find out who other Imperials are, but the Republicans start the game with no idea. 

“In addition to party affiliation, some people also have a character card as well. Their character gives them special roles in the game. For games with eight or more players, there are three character cards: two Imperial and one Republican. One Imperial is Emperor Palpatine. Another is Count Dooku, the leader of the Sepratist Alliance. Dooku’s special role is that he tries to get expelled from the Senate. If he does, the Clone Wars begin. If Emperor Palpatine becomes chancellor at any point during the Clone Wars, the Empire wins automatically. But if Emperor Palpatine is expelled from the Senate during the Clone Wars, the Republic wins.”

Tam frowned. “How does someone get expelled from the Senate? What determines who’s chancellor?”

“Hold on! I’ll get there. The final character card is Anakin Skywalker. He and Dooku were actually Jedi before everything, but the game puts them in the Senate to make things easier. His role is that his party affiliation can switch late in the game if enough Imperial policies are passed. He stops being Anakin Skywalker and turns into Darth Vader, the famous Imperial enforcer.”

“We can play as Lord Vader in this game?” Freya raised an eyebrow.

“Kind of. It’s not like you do anything Darth Vader is known for, though, so don’t worry.” Torra plowed ahead, laying out two near-identical boards next to each other. The difference was that one was blue with five squares while the other was red with six. “Typical gameplay runs like this: the Senate speaker can be anyone at the start, and their position rotates around the circle. Their first job is to nominate a chancellor, which the full Senate votes on. If the nominee gets a majority, they are elected. If they don’t, the speaker picks someone else. The speaker gets three chances to pick a chancellor. If none of their picks are chosen, the policy at the top of the card stack is placed on its appropriate board. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

“Once a chancellor is elected, the speaker has a second job. They set the agenda of the Senate by drawing the top three cards from the policy deck. Policies are either blue or red, Republican or Imperial. The speaker eliminates one policy and hands the other two to the chancellor, who chooses one to pass into law. If they pass a Republican policy, nothing happens. If five Republican policies are passed in a game, the Republic wins. But for every Imperial policy passed, the Senate and the chancellor both gain more power. The powers are…” Torra held the red board up to her face so she could read, “‘speaker and chancellor choose one player to jointly investigate. They see the player’s party affiliation and report on it to the Senate.’ Second power is the same thing, but the chancellor investigates alone that time. Third is the power to expel a Senator pending trial. The chancellor chooses who to expel and everyone but the accused votes. If a majority vote to remove, it happens.”

“Wait a minute. What does the player do once they get expelled?” Kaz asked. 

“Nothing. They just watch. But if the player is Count Dooku, they have to announce the start of the Clone Wars when they leave.” Torra went back to reading the board. “Fourth is expulsion without trial. The chancellor just chooses someone to remove. Fifth is when Anakin Skywalker turns into Darth Vader, and the last one is Imperial victory. And that’s it!” Torra set the board down and clapped her hands together. “Any questions?”

Doza… thought he’d been able to follow along okay. “I’m sure once we start playing it will all be easier. How are we going to randomly draw our party affiliations?”

“Oh right!” Torra pulled a second, smaller deck of cards out from the box along with ten envelops. She set two envelopes aside and removed one card from each party. Then, she gave three envelopes red cards and five blue. One blue envelope got an extra card slipped in behind the part affiliation while two Imperial envelopes did. Once they were all set to go, Torra closed all eight envelopes, knelt down, and shuffled them around on the floor. “Now everyone sit down in a circle and grab one. Make sure no one sees what you have.”

Doza sat down next to his daughter, wincing as he did so. Yeager got down on Doza’s other side, nose wrinkling in disgust as he opened his own envelope. He hadn’t come around to the merits of the game either, it seemed.

As for Doza, he did his best to remain impassive as he picked into his own envelope. There was only one card inside for him. This time, he would play for the blue team. That’s different.

“Does everyone know what party they are? We all checked to see if we got a character card as well?” Torra glanced around the circle, waiting for everyone to land on the same page. “Great! Thanks again for playing with me, guys. It means a lot. Now, it’s time for the secret Imperials to meet each other. Everyone close your eyes!” 

Gradually, everyone did. Doza was shocked by the tiredness he felt when his lids lowered. He could fall asleep sitting up if given the chance. 

Torra waited a bit longer to make sure everyone complied, then called out, “Imperials, open your eyes!” As she did this, Doza heard Torra breathe in. Her tone changed ever so slightly when she continued. “Emperor Palpatine, identify yourself.” Pause. “Count Dooku, identify yourself.” Another pause. “Thank you. Imperial faction, close your eyes again.”

Doza knew what that change in tone meant. Torra saw who the Imperials were. She was, for this game’s purposes, an Imperial agent. He hadn’t heard anyone else shift or move, however, so he had no idea who the other two could be. 

He didn’t have time to think about it either, because right as Doza made his deduction he was commanded to open his eyes. Torra’s eyes shone when she looked out into the circle once more. She shuffled the policy deck, placed it between the two boards in the middle of the circle, and declared that since the game was hers, she would serve as first speaker. “Good evening, Senators! We have quite the legislative session ahead of us. Our first order of business is to elect a chancellor. I present Senator Freya Fenris, my esteemed colleague and friend, for your consideration. All in favor, raise your hands!”

“Hm. I do not see anything wrong with electing Freya as a chancellor, but I also do not know anything about her. What is her party affiliation? What about her voting history? I do not feel informed about my options here,” Neeku thought out loud.

“It’s the first round, Neeku. None of us know anything yet. I say we go with it. It’s a yes for me!” Kaz raised his hand. Even with Neeku’s indecision, the motion had a clear majority.

“And so Freya becomes the first chancellor!” Torra declared. She reached into the policy deck and grabbed three cards. She discarded the middle card immediately and handed the remainder off to Freya, who sat on her right side. 

Freya paused, then did her best to play along with how Torra was running the game. “It seems the policy agenda is not, um, beneficial to freedom today. I have no choice but to pass a red policy.” She placed the first Imperial policy card on its appropriate board. Given his suspicions, Doza wondered if Torra had handed Freya two red cards on purpose. “Now Torra and I will discuss who we want to investigate... I guess.”

Torra and Freya whispered amongst themselves for a moment. Doza only caught a small snatch of their words: “nothing in the rules about...” something. About what? Did they want to investigate each other?

“Yeager. We choose Yeager.” Torra pointed past Doza at the elder mechanic himself. “Senator Jarek Yeager, show your chancellor and speaker your true colors!”

He shrugged, adjusting the card in his envelope. “As the Senate leadership commands.” He tilted the envelope so that the open slit was visible to Freya and Torra. “I have complied with your investigation, Madame Speaker, Madame Chancellor. I eagerly await the results.”

“Thank you, Yeager.” Freya nodded. She glanced to Torra again before declaring that “Jarek Yeager is most certainly a Republican by nature. We are all thrilled that the Senate may continue to trust him.”

Doza nodded, scratching Yeager off his list of potential suspects. “Which way are we rotating? Are you the next speaker, Freya, or am I?”

“Hm… how about you, Father?”

“Well, alright.” Doza put a hand to his mouth, index finger brushing against the bristles of his mustache. “Since Yeager is so trustworthy, why don’t we have him as our second chancellor?”

“I will say yes to that! Yeager is a wonderful choice, Captain Doza.” Neeku actually got to cast his vote this time, so Yeager was elected unanimously.

“It’s an honor, surely.” Yeager had a half smile on his face as he played along. At least one of them was getting the hang of things. “Mister Speaker, do you have the agenda ready?”

Doza drew the top three cards from the policy deck. All blue. Well, this should be easy. He discarded one and handed the rest to Yeager, who added the first blue policy of the game to the Republic’s board. Everyone clapped as he did so.

“What can I say? Freedom wins out this time around.” Yeager shrugged off the applause. He waited a second, then realized why everyone was still staring at him. “Oh right. I’m the speaker now. Well, um…” He turned to his employees, all three of which were seated to his left. Each one nonverbally jockeyed to be his nominee. “Neeku, how about you? I think we all know you’re a pretty honest fellow.”

“Oh yes, Yeager! I would be honored to serve as this Senate’s chancellor. Please, do pick me.” Doza wondered if he could ever seriously suspect Neeku of spying, even if it was just for a game. For all his obliviousness to metaphor and tendency to ramble (or perhaps because of those things), the Nikto had to be one of the most earnest people Doza had ever met. It was easy for him to vote yes. Easy for everyone else, too.

“Thank you, everyone! I promise to handle this responsibility well and to the utmost of my abilities.”

“Careful not to lay it on too thick, Neeku. People might think you’re misdirecting,” Kaz warned in a stage whisper.

“Misdirecting? Misdirecting from what, Kaz? I am an honest Senator serving this grand Republic! I have not even one scandal on my record! I was chosen by my home planet to bring justice and equality to the galaxy.” Neeku proclaimed with his fist to his chest, then smiled. “I am quoting a Senate speech I once saw on the holonews. The man who was talking had quite a lot to say and refused to stop his speech even when his time had run out. Senators are truly strange people, aren’t they?”

“Don’t worry about him, Neeku. Kaz is just trying to distract people from the way he’s been fidgeting since we started.” Tam glared past Neeku at Kaz. “You aren’t very good at this, are you?”

“What do you mean? I’m not fidgeting. Well, I am, but it’s not because I’m a spy! I’m not a… not an Imperial, I swear.” Kaz laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s just the whole Senate thing. It brings back memories for me, is all.”

Tam narrowed her eyes. “Memories of what? You’re from Coruscant, right? Coruscant hasn’t housed the Galactic Senate in over thirty years!”

“Ah… right.” Kaz ducked his head.

_ Well, that isn’t suspicious at all.  _ Doza now suspected Kaz of being another Imperial. “If we could get back to the game now, would you set the agenda for the round, Mister Speaker?”

“Already have, Captain Doza.” Yeager handed two cards to Neeku, whose face fell when he received them.

“But Yeager! You have handed me two red cards!” Neeku showed everyone. “How am I supposed to uphold my promise of freedom to the galaxy if I lead our grand institution towards tyranny?”

Yeager shrugged. “It’s not my fault, Neeku. I drew three reds. Someone didn’t shuffle these cards very well. It’s not the end of the game, just put one down and choose who you want to investigate... Mister Chancellor.”

“Oh, the pratfalls of leadership…” Neeku flinched as he placed a second red card on the board. “Now, whose card do I want to see? Hm…”

“Investigate Kaz, Neeku. He’s been acting suspicious all game.” Tam pointed to him, arm reaching across Neeku’s chest.

Kaz threw his hands up. “No I haven’t! Neeku, Tam’s the one accusing me. I think she’s trying to direct suspicion away from herself. Investigate her.”

“No, him!”

“Her!”

“Him!”

“Kaz, Tam, please! While you are both my friends, I can only choose one of you. Please do not argue.”   


“You deal with this often, Yeager?” Doza spoke out the side of his mouth. Kaz and Tam were still arguing.

“Oh, just every day.”

“Fine, fine! Fellow Senators, please calm down. I choose… Tam.” Neeku decided in a spur of the moment. “Tam, will you show me your party affiliation card?”

“Fine. This will prove to all of you,” she glared at Kaz, “that I am innocent! Here, Neeku.” She held her envelope open for Neeku to peer inside. It was easy since they were sitting next to each other. 

Neeku turned to face the rest of the group, a large grin on his face. “Good news, everyone! Tam is a Republican. Just like me!”

One more suspect off the list then. Doza wondered what would happen if and when this game got to expulsions, then. This “Senate”, as a group, had missed their chance to find any Imperial agents. All people would have to go on later is suspicion. 

“Your turn to be speaker, Tam. Choose who you want to be the next chancellor,” Yeager reminded her. “You could always reelect Neeku, if you want.”

“Hm…” Tam leaned back, puff of her ponytail scraping against a chair. “How about Synara? You haven’t done much in the game yet.”

Synara blinked. Her mind had been elsewhere, it seemed. “Me? I... suppose I could be chancellor. Thank you, Tam.”

“All in favor of Synara?” Tam took in the number of hands around the circle. This round was less enthusiastic than the previous one, but it was still unanimous. “Great! Synara, you’re the new chancellor of this Senate. Let me get your cards.” Tam reached over into the policy deck, discarding the card on the right without hesitation. Once she did that, she reached past Neeku and Kaz to hand Synara her options.

Synara had to think about it. To Doza, that suggested she’d been handed one of each card, not two of the same. Otherwise, what would there be to think about?

In the end, it was Synara who passed the third Imperial policy. Tam gasped. “Synara!”

“I think Kaz supports starting an Empire. He has not sat still since this game started, he cannot directly answer the most basic of questions, and he falsely accused Tam in the previous round. All in favor of expelling Kaz from the Senate, raise your hands.”

“What?!” Kaz started. “I am not an Imperial in this game! Those things Synara mentioned prove nothing.”

“Hm. I’m worried it’s too obvious,” Yeager said. “Remember, one Imperial in this game is  _ trying  _ to get expelled: Count Dooku.”   


Freya flinched. “That is true. Should we keep an Imperial in our midst, then?”

“Either we keep someone around who supports the Empire, or we risk starting the Clone Wars and making it easier for the Empire to win.” Yeager leaned back. “Neither option is a good one.”

“I’m not Count Dooku!” Kaz held his envelope up to everyone’s faces. “I can prove it to you.”

“Wait, Kaz.” Torra fetched the rules out of the box once more. “I think you’re only allowed to show people your cards when you’re being investigated… yep, no showing people your party card outside a Senate or Chancellor investigation. You can’t show anyone your character card either until after the game is over.”

“This is ridiculous!” Kaz groaned. “Now I wish Neeku had investigated me after all. You could have cleared my name, Neeku!”

“All in favor of expelling Senator Kazuda Xiono from the Senate?” Synara raised her own hand. Torra, Tam, and Freya did as well. Doza raised his hand later, but the majority was already formed. “There you have it. You’re out, Kaz.”

“Dang it!” Kaz stood up from his spot in the circle, opting instead for a lounge chair nearby. The circle tightened in his absence. “Oh, and I’m still not Count Dooku. The Clone Wars did not start.”

“Aw, I wanted to nominate Kaz once speakership had passed to me. Now I can’t.” Neeku hung his head, then perked back up almost immediately. “I suppose I should choose someone I know to be a Republican, then. No good letting an Imperial steer policy in the Senate! I choose…” his pointer finger wavered between Yeager and Tam before settling on “...Yeager. He’s the only one who’s passed a Republican policy so far. All in favor of reelecting Yeager?” Everyone raised their hands. 

Yeager chuckled. “Thank you, everyone. I know we’re all still hurting after our harrowing trial to expel a member, but it’s time to get back to business. You have the agenda ready for me, Mister Speaker?”

“Got it, Yeager- I mean, Mister Chancellor. Here are your policy options.” Neeku handed Yeager his two cards. Yeager consulted them only briefly before passing another Republican policy. Once again, everyone cheered. 

Since Kaz was no longer an option for speaker, the position went to Synara next. Tam grew quiet when she realized this, and Doza worked to figure out why. The captain didn’t know Synara well, but Tamora Ryvora had worked for Yeager the longest of the three mechanics, meaning Doza was somewhat familiar with her mannerisms. If he had to guess, he would still say Tam had given Synara a choice of policy when it was her turn as chancellor and didn’t understand why Synara had chosen the Imperial policy. Was it only to eliminate Kaz, who Synara truly believed was an Imperial threat? Or was it possible Synara was the Imperial all along and had worked to frame Kaz? Kaz’s own behavior didn’t support that idea, but Doza wasn’t sure he was ready to make that judgement call.

Doza was so caught up in his thoughts that he completely didn’t realize he was being stared at until Torra nudged him. “What is it?”

“Synara nominated you as chancellor, Father. You’ve been elected!”

“Oh.” He hadn’t been expecting that. “Why, if I may ask?”

Synara shrugged. “I got my chancellorship because I’d been left out of previous rounds. You’ve been quiet for a while as well, Captain Doza.” Her eyes suggested there was more to the story, but Doza wasn’t going to hear the rest of it.

So he just nodded along. “I see. Well, I accept my new duties with grace. Do you have the agenda ready for me, Madame Speaker?”

“I do, Captain Doza.” Synara reached across the circle to hand Doza his choices. 

In this round, he did have a choice. Synara had handed him one of each card. Perhaps this was a chance for her to personally test his loyalties, then? But if Synara were really an Imperial, she wouldn’t have to test at all. She would know who the other Imperials are. That meant (if Doza was reading into this correctly), that Synara was a Republican who’d only advanced an Imperial agenda for the purpose of eliminating a player. Doza wasn’t sure he agreed with her strategy, but it was clear that Synara was playing this game with one.  _ Intelligent woman. _

“I pass a Republican policy in the hopes of continuing our democracy,” Doza declared, throwing the third blue card down onto the board. “With the passage of this policy, we are now over halfway there to securing our republic from the threat of authoritarianism.”

“Whoo hoo!” Neeku cheered while everyone else clapped. 

Doza locked eyes with Synara, a question in his gaze. She nodded ever so slightly.  _ Ah _ . Just two lovers of freedom assessing each other, nothing to see here.

Now it was Freya’s turn to be speaker. Doza didn’t have a read on Freya’s position in the game yet, but if Kaz and Torra were Imperials and everyone else was a Republican, then the numbers suggested Freya was Imperial as well. It would be another explanation for why Torra had chosen her to be the first chancellor. Did that mean Freya would also choose Torra as her pick for chancellor, then?

It did not. Freya nominated Synara, who won her reelection without Tam’s vote. Doza wondered what Freya’s strategy was in this game. Synara was a stranger to Freya, and if Freya was really an Imperial, she would know Synara was not. So what was her angle?

Synara looked down at the cards Freya handed her in disgust. “These are both Imperial.”

Freya nodded. “Time for another expulsion.”

“Synara is choosing both people who get expelled from the Senate?” Torra asked. “That’s a lot of power in this game.”

“Bit suspicious if you ask me.” Tam crossed her arms. “It’s why I didn’t vote for her.”

Synara narrowed her eyes. “I know you’re Republican, Tam. I don’t want to eliminate you or Yeager.” And Doza had just passed her test, meaning he was off the list as well. Synara visually evaluated Neeku for a moment, causing him to stutter with nerves. Synara’s evaluation of Freya lasted longer, leaving the room dead silent.

Doza’s train of thought was running at full speed now. If he accepted the premise that Freya was Imperial and Synara was not, he had to consider Freya’s motive behind giving Synara elimination power. Kaz was the obvious choice for expulsion last time, but this time held no easy answers. By nominating Synara chancellor and handing her only Imperial cards, that could be seen as Freya indicating to Synara her Imperial status. She would only hint at such things to the woman with elimination power if she was Count Dooku, someone who wanted to get eliminated and start the Clone Wars, which meant such a strategy for Imperial victory was still in play. But if Kaz hadn’t been Palpatine, then Torra was. 

_ My daughter is the Emperor.  _ Doza snorted at the thought, then shook it away. Never did he imagine he would ever consider such a premise in his mind. Even in the context of a game, the thought felt absurd in his mind. The emperor was long dead, after all. 

“I choose… Torra. Senator Torra Doza may leave the game,” Synara finally declared. 

Torra gasped. “What? Why me? This is my game! You can’t kick me out of it.”

“There is no trial. I do not have to explain myself.” Synara brushed past Torra’s objections. “Please exit the circle and join Kaz.”   


“Come on, Torra. Maybe we’ll have better luck next round.” Kaz motioned for her to join him. Torra plopped down pouting in the chair next to his.

“With Torra gone, that makes you the next speaker, Captain Doza.” Yeager brought people’s attention back to the game. “Who do you choose as your chancellor?”

“I would like to reelect Neeku Vozo. All in favor, raise your hands.” Six hands shot up.

“Thank you, Captain Doz- er, Mister Speaker. Once again, it is a great honor to serve the Senate in this capacity.”

Doza nodded along, reaching to draw three cards from the policy deck. The stack was getting low. When he held the cards up to his face, Doza flinched. 

Reds, all three of them. It didn’t matter which cards Doza handed to Neeku. He tossed the left card away and apologized to Neeku as he made the transfer.

Neeku sighed. “It is alright, Captain Doza. I am coming to realize this is my duty as chancellor. I am but a useless pawn swept away in the tide of history, forced to assist in building a system I truly despise!” He threw his card down onto the red board. It was almost complete now. “Oh dear. What power have I unlocked now?”

Doza shifted the card aside to see. “Anakin Skywalker has fallen to the dark side. He is heretofore known as Darth Vader. Whoever has his character card must now behave as an Imperial agent.”

“Oh no!” Neeku exclaimed. “I have created another Imperial in our midst? But we just expelled two.”

“Hey. I was never an Imperial!” Kaz protested.

“You aren’t in the game anymore, Kaz. Stop talking.” Tam swatted him away, then turned. “Your turn, Yeager.”

“Oh… right.” Yeager’s eyes flitted around the circle, his mind deep in thought. The nearness of Imperial victory was setting him on edge, Doza would bet. “With things as close as they are, we need a chancellor this Senate knows they can trust. The only people who submitted to an investigation earlier are Tam and myself. I propose we elect Senator Tam Ryvora as our chancellor. All in favor?”

Tam was elected easily. “Thank you, everyone. I promise to serve our galaxy well during these troubling times.”

“Here are your choices for policy, Madame Chancellor.” Yeager handed Tam his two cards. 

Tam studied them, a smirk growing on her face. “I did not come to the Senate with a plan to do this, but it has become clear to me that this galaxy needs to be ruled with a stronger hand than our ancient Republic can offer. All hail the Galactic Empire!” She threw down the final Imperial card. “Long may she reign!”

“What?!” Kaz called out from the sidelines. “Tam! What are you doing?”

“But Tam! I saw your card! It was blue. You are a Republican. Why would you do this?”

“Wrong, Neeku. I started this game as a Republican. But when you passed the fifth Imperial policy, I switched parties. You know why? Because I… am…” Tam fished a card out of her envelope to throw onto the board. “Darth Vader!”

...Huh. Doza had completely forgotten to account for that. So had most people, it seemed.

“Well, while we’re revealing our true natures, I’d like to thank you, Tam. You made my job in this game a lot easier.”

“What are you talking about, Yeager?”

“Oh, me?” Yeager laughed, face a mix of contempt and smugness. “For the purposes of this game, I am,” he pulled both cards out of his envelope, “Emperor Palpatine.”

Doza froze. The sheer irony of Yeager playing as Emperor Palpatine took a moment to process. “But... Yeager, how? You were investigated in the first round of our game!”

“I was… by my ‘fellow Imperials’. Freya and Torra carried out a false investigation so I would gain the Senate’s trust. My original strategy was to let Tam pass a blue card, then talk her into nominating me so I could start the Empire. Instead, I guess Darth Vader is Emperor Vader in our version of history.”

“You lied in your investigation?” Synara asked. “Is that even allowed?”

“Yup!” Torra declared. “I read the rules, remember? Nowhere in the rules does it say the investigators have to announce accurate results. Pretty Imperial of us to run a fake investigation, right?”

“I never thought of that as a possibility,” Doza admitted. “I knew Torra and Freya were Imperials and that Freya must be Count Dooku, but I thought Kaz was the third Imperial.”

“No, he’s just Kaz,” Yeager confirmed.

“I told you all I was innocent! You should have believed me.”

“Sorry, Kaz. That was my mistake.” Synara stood from her place in the circle. “This was strangely fun. Thank you, Kaz. Torra. Captain Doza.”

“Yeah!” Tam was still beaming. “I liked that. I surprised all of you!”

“You did. Just... be careful talking about this game to other people, okay Tam? In no other context is starting the Galactic Empire something to brag about.”

“Okay, Yeager.” Tam’s face fell slightly when Yeager chided her. It lasted only a moment, but it was enough for any father to notice.

Doza stepped in. “Congratulations on winning the game, Tam. Secret Empire is… not as bad a game as I thought. I’m too tired to play more tonight, but I don’t mind playing again in the future if Torra and enough other people are interested. Thank you for setting up this game night, Torra. You were a good host.”

“See? I knew you would like it if you gave it a chance, Father!” Torra hugged her dad once he stood up. “Did you have fun, Freya?”

“I did. I think I will get back to my ship now. Thank you for the invitation, Torra. Good night, everyone, Captain Doza.” Freya left without another word.

“I should leave now as well.” Synara followed Freya’s lead.

Yeager stood up, then helped Tam do the same. “Seems like it’s time for us to leave as well. Come on Neeku, Kaz. We have a lot to get done tomorrow.”

“Okay. Bye Captain Doza, bye Torra!”

“Goodbye, everyone!” Torra waved enthusiastically as the last of their guests departed. Once they were alone in the pilot’s lounge, she and Doza got to work putting the parts of the game back into its box. It didn’t take that long.

“I’m glad we have our game nights, Torra. This… this was good for me.” Torra pulled his daughter in close, careful not to catch the edges of the box. “I love you.”

“Awwww! I love you too, Father! What should we play next week?”

“How about a simple game of cards? Just the two of us?”

Torra hummed. “That sounds nice, Father.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was harder to write than it looks, believe it or not. Because of the rotating aspect of who's speaker at what time, I had to alter the seating chart three times to make sure I got the game results I wanted. I also wrote my most detailed outline yet for any fanfic in the creation of what was meant to be a lighthearted "characters play a game' scene. I also added and removed players so that the flow and the rules would make sense. The things I do for ideas I had on a lark.
> 
> All that said... I checked out the Resistance tag shortly before beginning this story, and wow the show is underrepresented in fanfic. I hesitate to call Resistance a good show (I have my issues with the plot), but it's definitely a fun, easy watch. I love so many of the characters and really wish we got more adventures with them that what canon gave us. I'm genuinely surprised how few fics there are exploring this corner of the SW universe in more detail. I may have to come back and write a few serious ones later down the line. I'm on summer vacation now AND still in quarantine, so it's a distinct possibility.
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed the fic! For the purpose of continuing the series, I either want to do Clue or Spoons as the next game, but I have no ideas for what characters are playing the game. Any thoughts?


End file.
